Judge Blocks Trump's 'Muslim Ban' For Third Time

Zainab Ahmed of Dearborn, Michigan, chants during a protest of Muslim Ban 3.0 on the campus of Wayne State University on October 4, 2017, in Detroit, Michigan. U.S. President Donald Trump's third version of an executive order setting strict new limits on immigration is set to go into effect October 18.Photo: Stephen Perez/Getty Images

Judge Derrick K. Watson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii ruled that the ban—which targets people with citizenship in Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen—“suffers from precisely the same maladies as its predecessor: it lacks sufficient findings that the entry of more than 150 million nationals from six specified countries would be ‘detrimental to the interests of the United States.’”

The judge’s temporary restraining order prevents the government from blocking the travel of people from six of the named countries; the restricted groups of people traveling from North Korea and Venezuela will not be permitted entry when the ban goes into effect tomorrow (October 18). Watson previously halted the second version of the travel ban.

Per The Washington Post, Watson also wrote that the president’s directive “plainly discriminates based on nationality” in a way that breaks federal law and stands in opposition to “the founding principles of this nation.”

The White House issued a statement calling the order “dangerously flawed” and promising that the Department of Justice will appeal the decision.